Ranbaxy Laboratories has set to launch Daiichi Sankyo's Olvance (Olmesartan Medoxomil antihypertensive) product in India. This follows a licensing agreement between the two companies authorizing Ranbaxy to promote and market the drug in India.

Malvinder Mohan Singh, chairman, CEO and managing director, Ranbaxy, said, "The launch of Olvance is a historic moment in the collaboration between Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo. This marks the beginning of a productive engagement that will harness the respective strengths of Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy to establish a much stronger platform for Ranbaxy in India."

Remarking on the development, Takashi Shoda, president & CEO, Daiichi Sankyo, said, "We are delighted with the introduction of Olvance in the Indian market by Ranbaxy, signifying our serious commitment to India. Olmesartan Medoxomil is a superior antihypertensive medicine that will offer an excellent therapy option to the doctors and patients in India. This marks our intent to scale up our innovative product introductions, in India, through Ranbaxy."

Ranbaxy recognizes the responsibility of playing a pivotal role in creating awareness, understanding and acceptance of the new antihypertensive amongst the medical fraternity and other target audiences in India.

Olvance is an effective, fast acting and well tolerated antihypertensive agent that can be administered, once daily. The clinical trials of Olmesartan have shown it to be significantly more effective at reducing blood pressure, than, several other agents. Ranbaxy has a significant presence in the cardiovascular disease segment and is a pioneer and leader in statins the cholesterol reducing agents. Introduction of Olvance will further strengthen Ranbaxy's presence in the antihypertensive segment.

Olmesartan Medoxomil belongs to the family of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) class of anti-hypertensives and is a selective AT1 subtype angiotensin II receptor antagonist. It is available worldwide in more than 50 countries.